DIY Easter Egg Decor: How to Make Egg Shell Candles & Placecards

Hand dipping eggs takes me back to my childhood, long before ready made dye packs were readily available and my mother would, try as she might, try to instill her artistic talents into a my view of the world.

My fingers would be stained for days, smells of vinegar would waft around the kitchen and certain eagerness would overcome me with curiosity of what colors would take shape from the endless combinations I would create.

It is a tradition that I share with my children, knowing that not a single egg will be the same, and that our Easter décor will be unique; not just in the colors, but also in the memories we created at our kitchen table. Well beyond a simple Easter Egg, hand-dipped eggs can be used to create place setting, candles and any number for table decorations to make your Easter celebration special.

Making hand broken egg candles is not the quickest Easter project, but don’t let the time investment fool you – a few steps each day will result in candles that you give your Easter décor something truly special.

The supplies for this craft are for making hand broken egg candles, but with a few extra supplies, you can use the same supplies to create place setting cards and perfectly-shaped egg candles.

Supplies

A dozen white large eggs

Basic vinegar

Food coloring in a variety of colors

Empty egg create

Water

Candlewicks

Cups for dipping

Bee’s wax

Funnel (optional)

Paper Towel (optional)

Directions

Step 1: Gently crack the top of each egg so that the top of each egg is removed completely. Don’t worry if your top is uneven or ragged, you can clean this up after it dries to give it the finished edge you desire.

Step 2: Once the top is removed, release the contents and then rinse with fresh water to remove any of the excess egg. Place the egg upside down in the empty egg carton and allow your eggs to dry overnight.

Step 3: Once dry, create your color palate by adding food coloring into cups filled with 1 part vinegar and 3 parts water. Test out the color combinations until you have the desired effect you are after. To create the layered teal in the photos, I added equal parts of blue and green to one cub and allowed it to sit for 3 minutes, then wiped my egg clean with a paper towel, and then dipped it into a cup of either blue to give it a shadow effect. For a solid color, skip the paper-toweling step for a complete, uniform look.

Step 4: Place the colored eggs upside down in the egg carton and allow them to dry completely – usually overnight before adding the wax.

Step 5: Once your colored eggs are dry, place your eggs right side up in the egg carton, and place a wick inside each one. I used a weighted wick, which saves you the step of keeping the wick in place while they dry.

Step 6: Double boil the bee’s wax as instructed on the packaging, once melted pour into each eggshell to mid point, and then allow the wax to cool at room temperature overnight.

Step 7: Repeat the process again the next day, this time filling the eggshell with wax. Doing a 2-part wax process avoids any air bubbles from appearing and gives your candle a neat and tidy result.

Step 8: Once the eggs are cool and filled with wax, trim the wick to your taste and display them.

Variations: Tocreate an egg-shaped candle, skip the dying process and create a smaller hole at the top to ensure that the egg is a full egg shape once the shell is removed. Fill the egg with a wick and wax as above, and once the wax cools, remove the shell.

To create the place card, dip the eggs and allow them to dry as noted above, once dry, fill them with crafting moss and insert a nametag.

Note: When melting the wax, use a pan and bowl that can be ruined by this process as it is nearly impossible to removed melted wax from a glass bowl at the end of this process.

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